Coverage of the merger between American Airlines and US Airways

American Eagle Lays Off 20 New Pilots

Pilots were just recently hired

Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

American Eagle confirmed the layoff of 20 pilots, as a result of parent company AMR Corp.'s bankruptcy.

According to the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents the pilots, the new hires were in the midst of training.

American Eagle Lays Off Newly Hired Pilots

American Eagle laid off 20 pilots who were new hires that had just started training. (Published Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011)

"It is extremely unfortunate that management was unable to prevent this from happening and the [union] regrets announcing this unpleasant news," said the Air Line Pilots Association in a note to members.

The union also said this is not necessarily the start of a larger layoff, but will have more information in 45 days after AMR finishes negotiations with its aircraft vendors. Those negotiations will determine how many planes Eagle will keep in service.

American Eagle issued the following statement:

Due to AMR's recently announced restructuring, American Eagle today cancelled the pilot training class that began on Dec. 5 and has suspended additional hiring until further notice. Eagle contacted the 20 pilots who had attended the first week of training, to notify them of the cancellation. Per Eagle's collective bargaining agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), they will be considered furloughed, and will retain recall rights.